Friday, March 11, 2016

Alison May: A Magical Journey to the RoNAs!

Have you ever wondered what it is like to be nominated for an award?
Once we float down to earth how do we plan for the big day and what happens when the day finally arrives?

We welcome Alison May to the blog to tell us all about her exciting
experience.

Being shortlisted in the RoNAs is
at least seven different forms of awesome. It’s awesome to be appreciated by
readers. It’s awesome to be recognised by the RNA. It’s awesome to get all the
lovely congratulations messages on social media. It’s awesome to get to get
yourself all gussied up and have

Alison and EngineerBoy

a big night out in London town, with canapes
and fizz. (And yes, I know that that is only four forms of awesome, but there
are definitely at least three others; I just can’t remember them right this
very second – please feel free to suggest your own in the comments.)

Anyway, the RoNA shortlists were
announced in February and, for this first-time shortlistee, the month between
that announcement and the awards ceremony was a lovely blur of congratulations,
excitement and planning for the Big Night Out. I made the unprecedented
decision to bring my beloved EngineerBoy (twitter.com/porldb) with me for his
first ever RNA event. I made him buy a new tie and everything. I wanted to
bring him along for two reasons. Firstly, I do tend to get a tad tipsy at RNA
parties and have been known to miss the last train home when I’m left to my own
devices so I thought he could be my responsible adult for the evening, and
secondly, because without his support I don’t know how I’d have made it to this
point in my writing career and it seemed like a nice opportunity to show a
unsung writer’s supporter some appreciation.

On the night shortlistees are
asked to arrive early to be photographed in their category groups. The RoNA
Rose writers were an impressively punctual bunch so we were up first. The
photographer was fabulous, and pleasingly sympathetic to my claim that I
couldn’t possibly sit down because of the danger of fat rolls over my
waistband.

And then it was on to the
champagne drinking and the mingling which form the pre-cursor to the main
event. EngineerBoy had a lovely time, fitting in so well that a number of
people asked if he was a romantic novelist himself.

Soon it was time for the awards
themselves, in the fantastic surroundings of the William Gladstone library. The
fizz continued to flow freely which, given that canapes, although delicious,
are also canape-sized, leads to a high risk of giddiness relatively early in
proceedings. Every winner on the night looked more astounded and delighted than
the last. My category was won by Annie O’Neill – huge congratulations to her,
and to all the other winners, particularly Iona Grey who took home the overall
Romantic Novel of the Year Award.

For me the highlight of the
evening was the presentation of the two Outstanding Achievement Awards to
Claire Lorrimer and Anita Burgh. Both women are absolute inspirations, and both
brought gales of laughter to the hall with their acceptance speeches. Claire’s
goat/false teeth story will stay with me for a long time to come.

And that was that. There was
nothing more to be done other than letting EngineerBoy sweep the room for
uneaten canapes (yes, that was him, grabbing leftovers off the trays of
departing waiters, which was most uncouth – I definitely wasn’t doing a similar
trick with half-full champagne bottles) before we finally wound our way home, a
jolly good night having been had by all.

About Alison

Alison is a novelist, short story
writer, blogger and creative writing tutor who grew up in North Yorkshire, and
now lives in Worcester. She worked as a waitress, a shop assistant, a learning
adviser, an advice centre manager, a freelance trainer, and now a maker-upper
of stories.

She won the RNA’s Elizabeth
Goudge trophy in 2012, and her short stories have been published by Harlequin,
Choc Lit and Black Pear Press. Her romantic comedies, Sweet Nothing, Midsummer
Dreams, and the Christmas Kisses series are published by Choc Lit. The second
novella in the Christmas Kisses series, Cora’s Christmas Kiss (http://bookgoodies.com/a/B00QCUYCLK) was shortlisted for the 2016 RoNA Rose.

You can find out more about
Alison at www.alison-may.co.uk, on
facebook, or by following her on Twitter @MsAlisonMay

About Cora’s Christmas Kiss

Can you expect a perfect
Christmas after the year from hell?

Cora and Liam have both
experienced horrible years that have led them to the same unlikely place –

spending December working in the Grotto at Golding’s department store.

Under the cover of a Father
Christmas fat suit and an extremely unflattering reindeer costume, they find
comfort in sharing their tales of woe during their bleak staffroom lunch
breaks.

But is their new-found friendship
just for Christmas? Or have they created something deeper, something that could
carry them through to a hopeful new year?

Thank you for sharing your story with our readers, Alison.

The RNA blog is brought to you by,

Elaine Everest & Natalie Kleinman

If you would like to write for the blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

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Romantic Novelists' Association

We work to enhance and promote the various types of romantic and historical fiction, to encourage good writing in all its many varieties, to learn more about our craft and help readers enjoy it.

Romantic Fiction covers an enormous range, from short stories through category romance and much of women's fiction, to the classics. The nature of romantic fiction means that most of these novels are written and read by women. The RNA, however, boasts a number of very successful male authors amongst their membership.